NPM 025-2010

Requesting Entity: Greenmar Philippines, Inc.

Issues Concern: Tax Clearance

Details

Whether a company may be post-disqualified for failing to present its tax clearance issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) pursuant to Executive Order No. (EO) 398 (or Tax Clearance Form 17.14B) despite the fact that the bidding documents recognize manually-filed tax returns.

Allow us then to distinguish between a tax clearance per EO 398 and a certificate of delinquency verification/tax clearance issued by the BIR Regional Office. The former shows that the bidder does not have any tax liability nationwide while the latter shows that the bidder is free from any tax liability within the district/region where its principal place of business is located. Also, the former is obtained form the Collection Enforcement Division of the BIR while the latter is obtained from the appropriate BIR District/Regional Office.

What is required under Section 34.4 of the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 9184 is the submission of the tax clearance per EO 398 (or Tax Clearance Form 17.14B).

According to the BIR, a company paying its taxes manually may still apply and be granted a tax clearance per EO 398. If said company has not been enrolled in the Electronic Filing and Payment System (EFPS) of the BIR, it may be issued a temporary tax clearance pending enrollment in the EFPS.

Based on the foregoing, a bidder may be declared post-disqualified for failing to present a tax clearance per EO 398 (BIR Tax Clearance Form 17.14B) despite the facts that the bidding documents recognize manually-filed tax returns.